Spider-Man: Beyond the Spiderverse, the finale of the animated Spiderverse trilogy, is supposed to come out next year. In the meantime, you can catch Spidey with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, his latest live-action MCU entry. Judging by the record box-office, chances are you already have.
So, what can you expect if you haven’t?
After the multiverse fiasco last time, nobody remembers that Peter Parker (Tom Holland) ever existed. His alter-ego, Spider-Man, however, is NYC’s most-beloved superhero. He works well with the NYPD, particularly with detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas), but not so much with the more violent vigilante, Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal). His former friends, MJ (Zendaya) and Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), are living their best lives. He’s just stuck in his.
One day, Spidey discovers that somebody can psionically body-hop across the city. This stranger drives, by proxy, a stolen tank into the Department of Damage Control, where they release super villain Mac Gargan, aka The Scorpion (Michael Mando). They’re apparently looking for something, or someone, and Spidey has to find out what it is before anyone else gets hurt.
And, while this is going on, Spidey’s powers go haywire. His Spider Senses are unbearably boosted, and he can now fire webs from his wrists, rather than from his traditional web-shooter gadgets. It seems that he’s becoming more spider than man, and perhaps a visit with Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) can help him out. But he’s not going to like Dr. Banner when he gets angry.
This brand new day features a new director (Destin Daniel Cretton) with a returning composer (Michael Giacchino) and writers (Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers). As with Jon Watts before him, Cretton finds a right tonal balance between Spidey’s two lives. As fun as the action and jokes are, it’s at its most riveting as Spidey reconnects with Ned and MJ. It’s quite shocking when Spidey’s new antagonist spoils a compelling rooftop scene between Spidey and MJ. On the bright side, there’s Spidey’s public adoration, plus the implication that there is a way around Dr. Strange’s memory spell.
Should I try to keep who Spidey’s new foe is a secret? Marvel made an effort to keep it so. But it’s been out for a while, so I’ll just say who it is - Jean Grey (Sadie Sink). I’ll keep her true motive a secret, but I’ll just say it’s pretty understandable. What’s a bit less understandable is some of her pettiest actions (like forcing her psychic proxies to jump to their doom, even with Spidey around). It doesn’t mesh well with her otherwise anti-villain role. Still, her snapping and psychically freezing the city is fairly consistent with the eventual Dark Phoenix of past films. That’s why it only bothers me “a bit” rather than “a lot.”
Holland’s still great as Peter and Spidey, and so is just about everyone else. Zendaya and Batalon are still a great duo, even if MJ and Ned can’t remember Peter. Bernthal, as Frank, is a gruff guy with a good heart. Him realizing that he’s fighting the Hulk is hilarious; the hints of his dark and troubled past are not. The usually R-Rated Punisher does pretty well, I think, in this PG-13 setting. Mando, who last appeared in Spider-Man: Homecoming, makes the most of his screen time as Gargan. Marisa Tomei, whose Aunt May died last time, has a few strong scenes with Peter. Colón-Zayas, whose DeWolff is a pretty significant supporting player in the comics, makes for a great friend on the force. Tramell Tillman is decently insidious as the true villain, Bill Metzger.
And finally, there’s Ruffalo as Dr. Banner and The Hulk. After almost a decade of the refined “Professor Hulk,” Jean inadvertently brings back the familiar “Savage Hulk” when she proxies him. It’s a bit disappointing to see this character development undone, but it also makes some sense. Between this and Spidey’s mutations, it’s arguing that forcibly suppressing one’s nature is dangerous. I admit that it does it well. Now, how will future films handle this change?
As with the previous films, this Spidey is still a visual and audio Marvel. The opening montage, where Spidey handles an assortment of comic book foes, such as Tombstone (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III, his Spiderverse voice actor) and Boomerang, is pretty neat, even if said foes barely feature beyond it. A few more visual highlights include Jean’s psychic breakdown, as well as the final battle with The Hand ninja clan. Special notice must be given to the elaborate choreography for Jean’s body-hop victims. On the audio level, there’s Spidey heightened Spidey-Senses, Jean’s psychic powers, and Giacchino’s score (though that’s a given).
You probably don’t need my persuading to see Spidey’s Brand New Day. So, I think I’ll do something odd - suggest that you also find time for a smaller film (I’ll let you pick). This film’s record box-office is nice, but as with its star, it can’t carry the world alone. I think I said enough.
